Continued upgrades at center of Measure E

STOCKTON - With fall break over, Franklin High School students are expected to move this week into a new classroom building, the latest in a series of improvements to Stockton Unified facilities resulting from voters' approval of the $464.5 million Measure Q bond in 2008.

STOCKTON - With fall break over, Franklin High School students are expected to move this week into a new classroom building, the latest in a series of improvements to Stockton Unified facilities resulting from voters' approval of the $464.5 million Measure Q bond in 2008.

Now, a new bond measure placed on the Nov. 6 ballot is geared toward ensuring that Stockton Unified is able to continue with its modernizations going forward in spite of the struggling economy.

If at least 55 percent of voters favor $156 million Measure E, the district will cancel half of the unsold Measure Q authorization, reducing its remainder from $312 million to $156 million.

The effect for homeowners would be a second Stockton Unified assessment on their property taxes of $60 for every $100,000 of the assessed value of their homes. Measure E's proponents say passage would save taxpayers $542 million in interest costs over the next several decades.

Dale Scott, Stockton Unified's bond consultant, said about a dozen school districts around California have placed similar measures before voters, a move necessitated by the sharp decline in assessed home values in recent years.

"These districts are going back to voters and essentially asking them if they would allow the bonds to be restructured in a way that would save future taxpayers millions of dollars in interest," Scott said.

Notable projects completed since Measure Q passed include renovation and new construction at Walton Special Center, construction of new classroom wings at Nightingale Charter School and Van Buren Elementary, athletics facilities at Edison and Stagg, and the completion of two new classroom buildings at Franklin.

If Measure E fails, facilities director Steve Breakfield said it could delay a variety of projects, including multiple buildings at Edison High; the construction of new classroom wings at the following K-8 sites: Fillmore, Kennedy, McKinley, Monroe, Montezuma, Stagg, Taft and Tyler; and athletic improvements at Franklin.